Garden under the pines...

Garden under the pines
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

When we first moved in I had a lot of plants that needed divided. I created a bed under the pines and referred to it as my "refugee bed"... as you can see, the refugee bed has filled in nicely.

Welcome Raindrops

Lavender Iris
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

We had a brief show on Saturday afternoon... and a longer shower on Sunday evening. We really needed the water and the plants are responding well to the moisture.

Annual Day...

After thinning out a bunch of perennials and sharing with a friend... i decided that i needed some annuals to flesh out the garden and patio containers.

I purchased:

• Hanging basket of impatiens and lobelia (hummingbird already tested it out)
• Lobelia
• Salvia (burgundy red)
• Geraniums (salmon)
• Coleaus (4.. planted in twith the tree seedlings)
• Plum tomato
• Dill
• Poteulaca
• Begonia

I also planted the Black Cohosh... and transplanted the verigated hosta...

PINK!

A year ago I purchased a pink iris and pink poppy... neither bloomed for me last year. This year they are blooming simultaneously and looking gorgeous! My wish list for next year is going to be an orange poppy to balance out the purple in the garden.

I've been digging and mulching around tress and beds all week... even between the paver path that i have through a wet spot. It looks so much nicer and so much easier to mow around. I've been going from one shady spot to another and praying for a cloudy day... there hasn't been one this week! Which is unusual for what is known as the "grey triangle"... between Cleveland, Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

dig, dig, dig, mulch, mulch, mulch...

So today i took maddock and shovel and proceeded to trench around a dogwood tree and a crabapple tree. That was this morning when they were still in the shade. This afternoon and evening i cleaned out the flower bed near the back patio. trenched it and mulched... it was really overgrown with weeds. i'm hopeful that i can maintain it better now.

View of the back patio steps

Fuschia
Originally uploaded by pjslomer.

I've had a three day rest from chopping away grass and mulching... Many things a blooming at the moment. All the varieties of Columbine are stunning. The latest bloomer is one of the many clematis, rhodadendron and orange azalea.

I've noticed that the blue hostas out front could use some thinning out. And the zebra grass looks sort of sparse at the moment. It may need thinning out as well.

Pretty Pot

So, i had this scented geranium (coconut) that has a rather gnarly stem to it and it's sort of small... so i decided to plant it in this shallow clay pot. It reminded me of a bonsai, so i added a couple rocks and some shiny pebbles along with some mulch to complete the look. I have no idea how this will look at the end of summer, but i'm happy with it now.

RAIN!!!

We finally got rain today... all day! It had been a month since we had a good soaking and i was getting concerned. One rain barrell was empty and the second one was being used up quickly (they are both full with some extra buckets filled up too). I had to water my latest grasses because the ground was cracking around them... and the burning bush transplants as well. So today's rain was a very welcome sight and sound. I could feel a collective sigh from Mother Earth. I also decdied to take a break and go get an adjustment... much needed from weilding the maddock so much and carrying around bucket upon bucket of mulch. I'm making some progress on the bed on the outside of the sidewalk... some parts are really easy and then others have lots of weeds to thin out. It's a challenge...
New blooming in the garden: Spring Star flowers (after many years of no blooming), pincushion flowers, lily-of-the-valley, buttercups.

All Day Digging!

All day Saturday was spent with maddock in hand digging away turf and adding trenches around the new beds and then mulching them in. I kept moving to where the sun wasn't... there are now beds around the pampas grass, dogwoods & spirea in the eastern corner of the yard. I would like this to eventually be one big bed. There is also a bed connecting two of the six burning bushes. It took me forever! I have a blister on my left hand and it totally wiped me out. But it looks great!
I'm thinking that tomorrow night i'll mulch the bed on the western edge of the property... it needs to be defined and trenched but that can come later.
Today i dug out a bunch of oatgrass and took out and planted for Mom.

More mulch stories

So this is my massive mound of mulch!... and i had even been taking buckets off of it. But it feels really good to be able to clear out grassy areas (with the help of the maddock) edge the bed with a trench and then mulch it in. I still haven't finished the main bed out back. I needed a change and cleared and mulched around the bleeding hearts. It looks wonderful.

MASSIVE MOUND of MULCH!!!

My ten yards of mulch was ordered yesterday morning and delivered within a few hours... I came home to a massive mound of mulch (in my parking space). So from 6pm - 9pm I mulched... and mulched. Did I make a dent in the massive mound?... NO... so today when i came home i mulched for a couple more hours. I am pleased with how well it looks in the main garden bed. And I'm looking forward to edging additional beds and mulching. I want a bed that connects the burning bushes (all six of them)... and a connecting bed of the grasses around the paper bark maple. And edging the bed that's along the sidewalk... and also the one out front... and the list goes on.

Images from the garden...

Sunshine & Herbs

Yesterday I traveled up to Always Summer Herbs, near Slippery Rock, to pick up the special plants that i ordered this year. Included in my order were sage plants that smell of pineapple and other citrus odors. The hummingbird loved the one plant that i had last year, so i decided to get more this year. I also picked up two types of mint... one being a pineapple mint that i had in town. It has a pretty varigated leaf. Three different types of basil including Perpetual Pesto which is a columnar grower. Two types of lavendar in a pinks. Rue. Black Cohosh. Scented geraniums... and a huechara called Creme Brulee. Let the planting begin!

Planted three pots with a variety of plants... a lot over-wintered.

Currently in the garden the columbine are starting to bloom. I've noticed that the plants are smaller than usual. The cold spell last month was hard on them. Hostas and ferns are growing strong.

Transplanting

Today I finished moving the burning bushes (2) that were around the paper-bark maple toalong the driveway. I then planted the curly sedge and oatgrass around the maple.

• In the garden... the late daffodils are still looking pretty
• A few more tulips have evaded the deer
  
• The Phlox is mounded up beautifully along the sidewalk... pale purple
• Bleeding Heart isn't very big in foliage but it is blooming
• Columbine is starting to bloom
• Violets, violas blooming
• Sweet Woodruff blooming
• Hostas growing nicely

Violets

Violets
Originally uploaded by pjslomer.

Violas

Violas
Originally uploaded by pjslomer.